When the time was Wright!

Itrsquos that time in Indian cricket when appointing a head coach is close at hand Each time this happens I canrsquot help turning back the clock to the year 2000 Thatrsquos when the BCCI got serious about selecting a foreign coach who would replace Kapil Dev as well as Aunshuman Gaekwad who served as interim coach in 2000 after his first stint from 1997 to 1999Former president Raj Singh Dungarpur was the driving force although the BCCI was headed by Dr AC Muthiah with the irrepressible Jaywant Lele as Board secretaryAustralian Geoff Marsh was a frontrunner for the job before the BCCI appointed New Zealander John Wright as Indiarsquos first foreign coach of Sourav Gangulyrsquos teamMarsh was roped in later as a consultant but when he arrived to be interviewed for the coachrsquos job he strangely spurned it Thatrsquos what Raj Singh told us journalists at Indore during the National Cricket Academy v Zimbabwe game in November 2000 by which time Wright was appointedldquoWe had two days of discussion with Geoff Marsh in Mumbai His knowledge was profound and he spoke at length on how the Australian way is different to Indiarsquos But once the Board secretary Lele showed him Indiarsquos international commitments for the next 11 months Marsh said he could not do itrdquo Raj Singh revealedInterestingly when word got around that Marsh was one of the coaches the BCCI were keen on a certain section of the media thought it was Rod as against Geoff The Australian Cricket Boardrsquos then media manager Brian Murgatroyd had to clarify that to his knowledge Rod was not offered the job the West Australian great being involved with the Commonwealth Cricket Academy in AdelaideWhen key members of the BCCI learnt that Wright was keen and available Raj Singh called Colin Cowdrey at Kent to find out more about out the keen Kiwi who was coaching the county then which had Rahul Dravid in their ranks Indeed Cowdreyrsquos feedback was glowing He held Wright in high esteem Before he left for India Wright went to see Cowdrey in hospital The former England captain told him he was a phone call away if help was needed and reminded him that a nip of whisky ldquowould take care of any bugsrdquo as mentioned in John Wrightrsquos Indian Summers Cowdrey passed away not long after Former Australia captain and coach Bob Simpson who served as consultant to the Indian team and accompanied them to the 1999 World Cup too spoke highly of WrightRaj Singh told me later that Wright wasnrsquot chasing money and gave the BCCI the impression that he would do it for free ldquoThe selection panel was fair inquisitive and knowledgeable I sensed that they recognised that I really wanted the jobrdquo Wright wroteGreg Chappell was interviewed before Wright He would get his chance five years later Wrightrsquos appointment was welcomed in many quarters amidst questions about the need for a foreign coach Ravi Shastri supported the move and backed Wright to make a good fist ldquoHaving seen him as player and as captain of New Zealand I know his work ethic will be strong and demanding His genteel demeanour will help in putting across his points of view Yet he is also a tough nut who will not take any nonsense and will crack the whip whenever necessary He also comes from a country where there have been very few prima donnas in cricket so he will not be in the business of pampering at allrdquo wrote Shastri in an editorial for Cricket Talk magazineIn the same November 18 2000 issue Wright told journalist Dinesh Chopra that the BCCIrsquos interest in him was a ldquopleasant shockrdquo The then 46yearold prepared for the job interview by reading Mihir Bosersquos History of Indian Cricket ldquoThe foreword is written by Sunil Gavaskar one of my idols Based on that I analysed my coaching philosophy and anticipated the questions that could be askedrdquo he addedThe press was happy too I covered his lsquodebutrsquo for Indiamdashthe Test against Zimbabwe at New Delhi On the third day of the match we received a statement from him which readldquoFriends in the media Thank you for your cooperation so far I would like to state the following I will be available to answer all your questions the day before each match immediately after practice and at the completion of the game I will also try and make available the outstanding player of the match provided the captain and the BCCI have no objectionrdquoLele revealed that Wright was warmly accepted by the Board members who were shocked when the genial Kiwi addressed him by his first name Wright didnrsquot forget Lelersquos work as liaison manager of the New Zealand team during the 1987 World Cup in India At the time of writing Wrightrsquos fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming has emerged a strong candidate to become Indiarsquos next head coach If that happens Fleming would be Indiarsquos fifth foreign coach The noise about overseas coaches here has reduced to a great extent That said never should one underestimate the kind of pressure Wright carried as Indiarsquos first foreign coach Ditto the efforts our then administrators made to get the best for the Indian cricket teammiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper